


when she's not looking

by eclecticfangirl



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Chaptered, Cute, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Teen Romance, just a little angsty, nerdy!annabeth - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23916133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclecticfangirl/pseuds/eclecticfangirl
Summary: Percy really, really doesn't like that annoying Annabeth girl. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?Just your typical cute High School AU.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	1. first day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy knew he hated Annabeth Chase as soon as he laid eyes on her. She was the most obnoxious, annoying, uptight girl he had ever met, and he had met quite a few. He guessed, from all the times she had given him the death stare with those intense grey eyes if he ever opened his mouth, that she hated him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my dudes! I started this thing like a million years ago and decided to pick it back up. it's honestly just fluffy and cute. the beginning is kinda shit, but it gets better as the story progresses, I swear. really hope you like it!

Percy knew he hated Annabeth Chase as soon as he laid eyes on her. She was the most obnoxious, annoying, uptight girl he had ever met, and he had met quite a few, since he got kicked out of almost every school he had ever attended, and had to make new friends all over again almost every year. He guessed, from all the times she had given him the death stare with those intense grey eyes if he ever opened his mouth, that she hated him back.

It’s not like Percy hated a lot of people - he actually was a pretty easy going guy, and would be generally nice to anyone. He only wouldn’t for two reasons: if you insulted any of his friends, or if you were a blonde-haired, super-OCD pain in the ass. Which most certainly applied to Annabeth Chase.

On the first day of school, he walked through the hall in a good mood, which was weird, considering all the terrible first school days he’d had over the years. He thought he was probably the only person who could cause so much trouble accidentally. He knew that only someone with true talent could manage to rip off a locker door, flood the cafeteria and break the principal’s leg, all in one day. Specifically, the first day of school. And after that, he'd had to try to convince the principal (with a brand new cast on his foot) it had been all accidental, which of course didn’t work, and he only continued in that school after his mom did a lot of pleading. (And she may have told him that Percy was mentally disabled, but that’s not important.) Yeah, that had been a _really_ shitty day. 

But this time, he was determined. Everything was going to go just fine. He walked over to his locker and started to throw in his things, and realized that there was someone in the locker next to him.

“Hey, I’m Percy Jackson. What’s your name?” He’d said the sentence so many times in his life, it was almost automatic.

“You’re talking to me?” The guy was clearly surprised. When Percy nodded uncertainly, he stuttered. “Oh, um, hi. I’m Grover. Grover Underwood.”

“Nice to meet you,” Percy smiled, offering his hand with a smile. Grover hesitated before offering his own clammy hand and shaking Percy's. 

Grover was shorter than him, about five inches; he had long, curly hair and a green cap over it that said 'SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT' in bold letters. He wore a long tie-dye shirt and baggy jeans, and he seemed to have a limp as he shifted nervously.

“You a sophomore student?” Percy asked.

“No, I’m a senior… but don't worry, I get that a lot. I’m a bit small for my age…” He scratched his neck shyly.

“Hey, that’s great, man! Me too! Maybe we’ll have a few classes together.”

Grover smiled. He obviously wasn’t used to having many friends, and he definitely didn’t seem used to having people stop him in the hallway just to have a conversation. As they talked, Grover seemed to warm up a little, telling Percy he was from Long Island and attended Goode High School since freshman year. He said he liked the school itself, but not the other students as much.

"Some of them are assholes, but I do have a couple of friends. I can introduce you to them if you like, though I don’t know if it would do you much good. We’re kind of the least popular ones," he chuckled lightly. "But if you want to join the clan, you’re always welcome.”

Percy glanced at his watch. 7:23 AM.

“Grover, I hate to end this conversation, but since I’m new here I’m supposed to meet the principal in a few minutes. Do you know where his office is?”

Grover nodded. “Oh, sure. It’s one floor above this one, three doors to the left.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll see if we have any classes together, but if we don’t, I’ll see you during lunch break.”

Grover waved as Percy went up the stairs and when he found the office, he knocked on the door hesitantly. He heard a low ‘Come in’ and entered the room.

It wasn’t a big room, and a big desk was placed in the very back, perfectly centered. Other than that, the only other piece of furniture was a chair in front of it and a book stand on the right, where thick books and trophies stood on the shelves. The left wall was covered by so many classes’ school pictures, there was hardly any wall left showing. Behind the desk was a window, the only one in the room, which was wide open, so that the early morning sun illuminated the office and a pleasant breeze came in.

Behind the desk was a man with slightly tanned skin, brown hair and a beard that went down to the base of his neck, but it was well kept, so he looked like one of the Ancient Greeks rather than a caveman. He was wearing a white shirt with a grey woolen vest over it, and he was sitting in a big black wheelchair. Behind his glasses his eyes were inviting and warm, and when he smiled, you could see the wrinkles in the corners of his cheeks. There was something about him that made Percy feel he was experienced and wise, even though the man didn’t seem older than forty. 

“Hello, Percy,” he said, smiling softly. “I’m Principal Chiron.”

“Um, hi.”

“Please, take a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk. “I talked to your mother a while ago, but I always prefer talking to new students privately. I will tell you about your classes and school regulation soon enough, but first, tell me about yourself.”

Percy hesitated.

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do? Where are you from? What are you good or bad at doing?”

Percy stared at him for a few seconds. This had never happened before. First of all, the Principal didn’t seem to instantly hate him, which was _certainly_ different. Second of all, he seemed generally interested in Percy’s life, instead of his history in schools. (Or general disastrous history.)

“Well… my name is Percy Jackson. I’m seventeen years old.”

“I already knew that.” Chiron smiled. “Tell me something I don’t know yet.”

“I, uh… I like swimming,” Percy said, trying to think about anything about himself. “I love water. Swimming, surfing… I’ve liked it ever since I was a little kid. It’s also the reason why blue is my favorite color.” Percy remembered the summer days during break when he went surfing with his friends from camp and smiled at the memory.

“You should join the swim team, then. Would you like to be a part of our competitions?”

“Sure! Cool, I didn’t know you guys had a swimming team.” Percy had never been in a school with a swimming pool, much less a swimming team.

“What about things you _don’t_ like? Any school subjects in particular you aren’t a fan of?” Chiron asked. Percy didn't hesitate.

“I’m not that great at Math and Chemistry, though I do try. I actually prefer literature, but my ADHD and dyslexia make it hard to read a lot. So I just stick to swimming and music, mostly.”

“Very well. I wrote down a few clubs and things you might like.” Chiron gave Percy a small piece of paper. “Have you met anybody here yet?”

“I only met Grover Underwood, another senior. His locker is right next to mine.”

“Oh, that’s great! He’s a great kid, though I’m afraid some people around here don’t think so.” He spoke calmly, but Percy heard the worry in his voice.

"I think he’s pretty cool,” he said, a little defensively, though he knew Chiron was only stating facts. The Principal smiled.

“I’m glad he's found a friend. I have a feeling you’ll be good for him.” He smiled again.

Percy looked at him, confusion clear on his face. The Principal was telling Percy he would be a _good influence?_ He didn’t understand. This man _knew_ his past in schools, and he seemed to actually _like him_ \- it was either a miracle or a joke.

“Once we’re done, I can ask Mr. Underwood to show you around the school. I’m almost always the one to show new students around, but this time I sadly have a few emergencies to attend to. I take it you don’t mind?”

“No, of course I don’t, sir.”

“Very well. Now, about the regulations. There aren’t many, so it’ll be easy to follow them, though I take it you aren’t that great at following rules?”

Percy looked guiltily down at his lap. Chiron chuckled.

“Not to worry. All you need to know is that you need a pass to go to the bathroom, no physical violence anywhere - especially the hallways - and no cellphones are allowed inside the classrooms.” 

“That rule will be easy not to break, I don’t own a phone,” Percy said, relieved he wouldn't get in trouble for that.

“Already a good start, isn’t it?” Chiron’s tone was light as he gave Percy another piece of paper. “Here’s your schedule. The classroom numbers are next to each subject, so you should be able to find your way around pretty easily. Is there anything else you would like to know?” 

“Actually, yes.” Percy raised his head to look at Chiron in the eyes. “Why are you being so nice to me? You know my history in past schools, right?” His eyebrows scrunched a little as he waited curiously for Chiron's answer - he genuinely wanted to know why this man was being so nice to him. The Principal smiled.

“I have a feeling you are just a good kid with really bad luck,” he said, and Percy grinned. 

In that exact moment, the door flew open, and someone stormed in.

“Principal Chiron, you have _no idea_ what Clarisse LaRue has done this time. I simply _cannot believe_ she would do this, it’s the _first day of school_ and she’s _already_ being the most insufferable being on the _planet_ -”

“Calm down, Miss Chase,” Chiron said, lifting one hand to stop her from continuing her blabbering. “I am busy with Mr. Jackson here.” He indicated to Percy, who was still recovering from the sudden commotion.

Only then she seemed to realize there was someone else in the room. She was tall, only about two inches shorter than Percy, and she had long, blonde curls that were pulled back in a high ponytail. A few strands fell around her face and made her deep grey eyes stand out, and her long lashes made her look like she had makeup on. She would have been pretty if she weren’t looking at Percy as if he were a piece of chewed gum. He lifted an eyebrow and she scowled even more, before looking back at Chiron.

“But Principal Chiron, _surely_ this can wait, it’s an emergency, the library is a complete _mess,_ books thrown all over the -” He raised his hand and she stopped talking again.

Percy did a double take. “Whoa, tiger. This is all because of a mess in the library?”

She looked at him like he’d just slapped her in the face. She opened her mouth and pointed at him like she was about to lecture him, but Chiron stopped her.

“Miss Chase,” he said authoritatively, but still maintaining his calm demeanor. “Go outside and find Grover Underwood for me. We will talk about this later.” He gave her a stern look and she seemed like she wanted to argue, but dropped her hands to the side, defeated. She nodded, gave Percy another glare and walked out of the room. 

“Uh, sorry about that. I shouldn’t have said anything. I have a habit of saying stuff without thinking,” Percy apologized.

“It’s alright, Percy. Annabeth Chase has a really short temper, and I’m afraid miss LaRue loves to have a laugh about it.” Chiron sighed. “I must go back to my work, so, if you like, you can either wait for Grover here or outside.”

“It’s okay, I’ll wait outside. Thanks for everything, Principal Chiron.”

Percy walked out the door and leaned on the wall outside, taking a look at his schedule while he waited for Grover. 

He hoped with all his might that Annabeth Chase wasn’t in any of his classes, but he somehow knew he’d be receiving a lot more glares from her.

***

Percy walked around the hallways as Grover told him about each teacher - the ones he shouldn't get in trouble with.

“The Latin teacher is miss Edison. She’s pretty cool. And she always has food for some reason, so if you’re ever hungry, you can ask her for mid-class snack.” Grover pointed at another door. “That’s Mr. Blofis’ class. And before you ask, no, it’s not _Blowfish,_ it’s _Blofis_ , as in B-L-O-F-I-S.” 

“Oh,” Percy said, pretending the letters weren't jumbled in his head as he tried to figure out the correct order.

“He’s really nice,” Grover said. Percy got out of his daze, then took a few seconds to remember what they were talking about. “I always take his American Literature class.”

“I’m taking that too,” Percy said, catching up with conversation. “I actually have dyslexia, but I like literature. Now _math..._ that’s something I don’t enjoy at all.” Percy shook his head, grimacing. Grover snorted.

“Then you won’t like the next one. This is Mr. D’s class. He teaches algebra 1. That guy is so grumpy, I think he has a permanent scowl. And he never remembers anybody’s names.” 

Percy looked at his schedule, then groaned, hitting his own forehead.

“Ugh, _shit_. That’s my first class.”

“Tough luck. Mine’s chemistry, Mrs. Hayden’s class. She’s nice enough, but her class is a bit boring. She does do this cool project thing, though. We're divided in pairs and we have to present an object that shows some type of chemical reaction. Anything you want. Last year, me and my friend Thalia made this homemade pH paper and it actually worked, so she gave us full marks and let us skip homework for the next month.” Grover smiled. “You have to make her like you. When I first got here I think she kind of pitied me, so she’s always extra-nice to me.”

“Making teachers like me is not my forte,” Percy grumbled. Just thinking of Mrs. Dodds, a couple schools back… He shivered and tried to think of something else.

After Grover showed Percy where the bathrooms were, they started heading back to their lockers, talking about what they liked to do in their free time. Percy told him about his camp and all those times he went surfing with his friends there.

"Chiron said I should join the swim team," he said.

“Oh, those guys are popular. Every girl in school wants to date them. Sorry, but most seem kind of full of themselves." Grover grimaced. He seemed to be talking from personal experience, but Percy didn't ask. "There are exceptions, though, like that guy Will Solace, or his friend Jason Grace.”

“I’m gonna look for them, then. I like being the exception,” Percy smiled teasingly.

“Well, if you maintain that smug attitude, you’ll go right with the other self-centered idiots,” Grover laughed, pushing Percy playfully.

They got back to their lockers, gathering their things for the first period. Percy turned to Grover, shouldering his bag.

“I’ll see you in Blofis’ class then,” he said as he closed his locker.

“Yeah, sure. See you later.” 

Percy headed towards Mr. D’s class, but stopped on the way to go to the bathroom before the class started. Later, he'd wish he hadn’t.

When he got in the restroom, he instantly heard the whispering. There were at least two people in there, and their sentences weren’t understandable, but he could clearly hear their mischievous tone. Percy still had to go to the bathroom, though, so he just ignored them and went to the urinal. One second after he flushed, he heard the pipes rattling and his eyes widened. He ran and hid inside a cubicle just in time.

All three urinals exploded, high-pressured water flying all over the place and soaking everything. Percy could hear two voices laughing hysterically over the deafening hissing sound. He didn’t even know if he was screaming or not. He really was stupid for thinking that he could actually survive this day without anything disastrous happening.

He heard the door open and a third voice joined the noise. Percy could hear the man screaming even over the deafening noise of the explosion, though he didn't understand a single word, only an emotion: pure rage. 

Suddenly, the water stopped, and the man’s screams became very clear.

“-IDIOTIC BUFFOONS! DOING PRANKS _EVERY FREAKING YEAR!_ I WILL KILL YOU, STOLLS! YOU WILL SUFFER SO MUCH YOU WON’T EVEN REMEMBER YOU NAMES!"

Percy peeked outside, making sure he wasn't being seen by anyone. Standing with his back to Percy in the flooded bathroom was a fat guy with long hair and a shaggy beard, wearing the loudest looking button-up he'd ever seen. His face was bright red as he yelled manically.

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS, STOLLS, I SWEAR ON MY LIFE! YOU WILL HAVE SO MUCH HOMEWORK YOU WON’T HAVE TIME TO BREATHE! YOU WILL ENDURE A LIFETIME OF DETENTION, AND I WON’T LET DEATH TAKE ME UNTIL YOU’RE DONE! YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE -”

“Calm down, Dionysus,” Percy heard a female voice say, coming from the door. “We will deal with this situation like _civilized_ _people_ and -”

“I DON’T GIVE A _DAMN_ ABOUT BEING _CIVILIZED_ , ABIGAIL! LOOK WHAT THEY’VE DONE! EVERYTHING _SOAKED!_ THE URINALS _DESTROYED!_ OH, HOW MUCH MONEY WILL WE HAVE TO SPEND ON THIS? AND ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! I SWEAR THEY WILL SUFFER MORE THAN -”

 _“Dionysus._ ” Percy heard Chiron’s voice, and he mentally thanked every god there was. “Please, calm down.” 

He heard a defeated sigh and the squeaky sound of wheels heading to the cubicles.

“Stolls, get out of there, please.”

The sound of the door opening echoed through the bathroom, and he heard a male voice say:

“Why hello, Principal. What are you doing here this fine day?” Percy could hear the boy's smile through his voice.

Chiron sighed again. “Who was the victim this time?”

Percy took that as his cue to show himself. He slowly opened the door, looking at the flooded floor. 

“I believe that would be me.”

He glanced around, and saw Chiron next to the man with the shaggy beard and a woman with long, brown hair that was half pulled up. She was wearing a blue knee-length skirt and a green blouse that highlighted her dark skin. Her face was long and skinny like her figure and she had warm eyes, a strong contrast to the fat man’s scowl and wrinkles that made him look like he hadn’t smiled in forty years. _Mr. D,_ Percy thought. _Grover’s description fits the image._

Mr. D scowled at Percy.

“Yeah, and we’re supposed to believe that. Ha-ha.” He glanced at the other cubicle, the scowl never leaving his face. "You’re obviously part of their little prank club."

Percy slowly stepped closer to take a look at who they were talking about. He didn’t know if the two boys were twins, but they were obviously brothers. One of them was about an inch taller than the other and they were both taller than Percy, which meant they were very tall. They were really skinny and had the same brown, curly hair that hung over their eyes, but their strongest feature was the crooked, sarcastic smile and upturned eyebrows that sent a clear message: _Here comes trouble._

“Actually, I just came to use the bathroom,” Percy told Mr. D defensively, already feeling anger rising up inside him. “I have nothing to do with this.”

“Save your apologies to the Principal’s little meeting, kid. Who are you, anyway?” He looked at Percy dismissively, making him clench his jaw. This man was really getting in his nerves. He opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted.

“Mr. D, this is Percy Jackson. He’s new here at Goode, so I don’t think we should jump to conclusions.” Chiron glanced at Percy, but he couldn’t read his expression. 

“Well, Johnson, you shouldn’t be here anyway, you don’t have a pass,” Mr. D said. Percy was about to argue, but was cut off by Chiron again.

“The classes hadn’t started yet, Dionysus. He couldn’t possibly have had a pass with him. I think we should be talking about _other students_ here,” he paused, shooting a stern look at the two boys standing at the cubicle door, now snorting and feigning innocence. He turned his wheelchair to talk to Mr. D again. “Dionysus, you may go back to your class. I’ll see you later. Abigail, would you please ask someone to clean this up?” 

“Yes, sir,” she nodded and left the room. Mr. D glanced one more time at the two boys in the cubicle before following her outside. Principal Chiron looked at Percy.

“Percy, I don’t know for sure, but I do believe you had nothing to do with this,” he gestured at the floor with his hand. “You may go to your class. You two, on the other hand, aren’t as lucky. Follow me to my office.”

He turned around and left the bathroom. Before following him, the two brothers turned and looked at each other.

“That was completely fucking _awesome!_ ” Percy heard the taller boy whisper. “I _told_ you three turns in the pipe would do the trick.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the other one whispered back, rolling his eyes. “The important thing is that it worked.”

They gave each other a high-five then turned to look at Percy.

“You had the honors of triggering another incredible Stoll prank. What is the name of the man we owe our laughter forever?” The guy was smirking again, and Percy fought the urge to look behind him to see if there was someone waiting to jump scare him or something. Instead, he returned the grin.

“Percy Jackson, and I think I don’t know your names, unless you just call yourselves Stoll Number One and Stoll Number Two?”

The taller guy chuckled. “I’m Travis, and this is my dearest brother and prankster companion, Connor. Pleased to have your acquaintance, Percy Jackson,” he offered his hand, but Percy didn’t take it, only raising his hands and backing away a little.

“Um, I don’t mean to judge, but given the experiences I’ve had with you guys in the past half-hour, I think I have the right of suspecting there’s a shock buzzer in your hand,” Percy said, trying to make his nervousness sound like mere amusement. The boys didn't seem to notice his discomfort, merely laughing at his wariness.

“You’re smart.” Travis opened his hand and showed Percy a little beige button taped onto his palm. Percy laughed. 

“Well, I should get going. My first class is actually with Mr. D."

Travis grimaced. "Oof, good luck with that."

Percy sighed. "Yeah. See you around, guys.”

He walked out and headed to the classroom, cursing his soaked sneakers.

***

Percy opened the door and the classroom erupted in whispers. It was a big room full of small desks, all of which had storage under them and were completely covered in doodles and scratches. The whole class was there already, of course - Percy lost the first half hour in the bathroom, thanks to the Stolls’ glorious prank. The students clearly already knew about it, and that Percy had been the lucky one to trigger it. His slightly wet t-shirt and completely soaked sneakers didn’t help.

In front of the big blackboard, a very wet and annoyed Mr. D stood, arms crossed and looking at the class, his expression sending a clear message: _shut up._

“Yeah, yeah, enough already,” he said. He waved his hand, gesturing to Percy. “Everyone, this is Perky Jameson. Sit down now.” 

He then turned around to the blackboard and began scribbling some numbers on it, clearly not expecting a response, but Percy thought that if he didn’t say anything, people would be calling him _Perky_ all year, and he really didn’t want to endure that.

“Uh, it’s actually _Percy Jackson,_ ” he said simply, walking towards an empty desk. 

He sat down and placed his bag on the floor, retrieving his things, and only looked up when he heard a really exaggerated cough. He was unpleasantly surprised to find a teacher with terrible taste in clothing glaring at him.

“What?”

Mr. D let out a sarcastic laugh that lasted about half a second before his scowl came back. “What do you mean, _what?_ Who do you think you are?”

“I think that I’m _Percy Jackson_ ," Percy shrugged, staring back at him with raised eyebrows. "Not Perky Jameson."

The class fell silent and there was tension in the air as the other students watched intently, waiting for what was going to happen next. Mr. D raised his eyebrows at Percy, who just stared back defiantly.

“Do you want to be Percy Jackson in the _principal’s office?_ ”

“Oh, give him a break.”

Percy looked behind him, searching for the source of the voice. His attention went to a boy sitting in the very back of the class - dark, messy hair, slim figure and pale skin. He wore only black - a black Ramones t-shirt, black skinny jeans and black combat boots. Judging by how skinny he was, his sunken cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes, he didn’t eat or sleep much. 

The boy was looking at Mr. D with a bored expression, sprawled on his chair. If he hadn’t said anything, Percy wouldn’t have noticed he was there; he seemed to blend in the shadows in the corner of the room. He rolled his eyes.

“You’re going to send him to Chiron for wanting a proper introduction? Come on. That’s just ridiculous.”

The teacher gave him a dark look.

“Perhaps you’d like to join him, di Angelo?”

The boy’s expression remained unfazed and he rolled his eyes again, sighing. “What did I do to deserve this…” he murmured, and Percy knew he ad only heard him because he was so close to him.

“Mr. D, can we just continue our class, please?” 

This time it was a girl that spoke. She was small, with voluminous golden-brown curls and dark skin and she wore a necklace with a big red stone, matching her earrings. She seemed to know the boy, and she shot him a worried look, seemingly trying to tell him to stop talking before getting in trouble. 

Mr. D glared at him one last time, but nodded.

“Yes, Hazel,” he said, then turned around, proceeding to write on the blackboard.

The class went on for what seemed like forever, and Percy got so bored he started doodling, but even those weren’t going so well. When the bell finally rang, he sighed in relief, grabbed his things and headed towards the door, but stopped as he remembered something. He looked at the corner of the room and found that the boy from earlier was still gathering his things, talking to the girl from earlier, her bag on one shoulder. She smiled at him before turning and heading to the door, waving at him.

“Later, Nico!” 

Percy started to head towards the guy as the girl walked out of the room, not before smiling a little and giving him a small nod as she left. Percy smiled back and turned to the skinny boy, now almost done gathering his things, apparently oblivious to Percy's presence.

“Hey, thanks for that, I really appreciate it.”

The guy looked up, clearly surprised.

“Oh, um, it was nothing. That guy annoys the fuck out of me…” he said the last part to himself. He seemed to do that a lot. Percy laughed. 

“Yeah, me too. He tried to incriminate me for the Stolls’ prank, and I didn’t even know who they were.”

“So, it’s true? Did they really explode a toilet?” Percy couldn’t decide if he sounded amused, curious or careless.

“More like all of the urinals.” Percy grinned, and the boy actually laughed this time.

“That’s incredible,” he smiled and shook his head as he zipped his bag. “Percy, right? I’m Nico di Angelo.”

“Nice to meet you,” Percy said. “Cool shirt, by the way.”

“You like the Ramones?” Nico asked, glancing down at it with a small smile.

“Well, duh," Percy grinned as they walked into the hall.

“Nice,” Nico chuckled lightly. “Gotta go to my next class, but I’ll see you around?” 

“Sure. See ya.”

The rest of the day went on, and Percy got to know a few of his teachers. Abigail, from the bathroom incident, was actually Mrs. Edison, the Latin teacher. He didn’t really meet any other people, so when the bell rang indicating the beginning of lunch break, he went to his locker, where he found Grover looking for his lunch.

“Hey, man,” he greeted.

“Hey! How’s your first day going so far?” Grover asked, grabbing an apple from inside his bag and taking an inhumanly large bite.

“Pretty good. Except I was pranked by the Stoll brothers, accidentally flooded a bathroom and proceeded to make Mr. D hate me. Aside from that, it’s going okay.” Percy took a bag of his mom’s blue cookies from his backpack and chose an especially tasty-looking one, taking a bite.

“I heard about that,” Grover chuckled. “They always do that sort of thing. Mr. D doesn’t really like anyone, but they earned a special spot in his blacklist when they dropped a balloon full of red paint on top of his head last year. It was epic.”

Percy laughed. “And how's your day gone so far?”

“Oh, pretty okay. Mr. Blofis told us about the book we’re reading this month, and it’s actually interesting, so there’s that. The class was ruined when Annabeth Chase started talking about how we should read more about architecture, though, so I just doodled on the desk for the rest of the period.” 

“Annabeth Chase?” Percy remembered the girl from the Principal’s office. “Tall blonde who always gets in fights with some girl called Claire or something?”

“Clarisse,” Grover said bitterly. He’d obviously had some bad experiences with this girl, but he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it. “But yeah, that’s Annabeth. I also don’t like Clarisse, but that’s basically the only thing I have in common with her. She’s a total bookworm, loves architecture and has an absurd level of OCD. She gets really fussy about rules all the time. She’s one of the popular girls, though. I think guys want to get in her pants just to say they managed to do it.” He grimaced and shook his head disapprovingly.

Even though Percy was branded a troublemaker, he hated guys like that - boys that dated other girls for status. He guessed that was probably why he stuck with the less popular kids like Grover.

When break was over, Percy went back to his locker and looked at his schedule, only to find that his next class was Chemistry. 

_Ugh,_ he thought. _I hate Mondays._

He grabbed his things and headed towards his classroom. A woman with short, red hair and freckled cheeks, sat behind the big desk at the front (the teacher, Percy guessed). Aside from her, the classroom was empty. He said a weak ‘Hello’ as he sat in one of the desks in the very back.

When the next person entered the room, he bit back a groan.

None other than Annabeth Chase walked in, head held high and a smug expression on her face.

Annabeth gave the teacher a super-exaggerated ‘Good morning!’ and proceeded to examine the room. Her smile faltered for half a second when she spotted Percy in the back, but she apparently decided to completely ignore him, simply walking over to the very front row and setting her things on the desk in the center, where she’d have a perfect view of the blackboard. He didn’t feel like saying anything to her, so he grabbed his workbook and started sketching some random stuff in the corner of the page.

When the bell rang again, the classroom was filled with people, all paying attention to the teacher, who got up and grabbed some chalk. She wrote something that Percy (after struggling for a while) figured out was _Mrs. Hayden_ in big, curvy letters and turned around.

“Hello everyone. You should know my name if you can read.” She gestured to the board before continuing. “Welcome to Chemistry class. In these papers are all the things we’re going to study this year, so if you’ll pass that on…” she said, giving them the papers. “I’ll begin by saying a few things about myself, then you can say some characteristics about yourselves as I take attendance over here. My name is Agatha Hayden, and I’m a forty-seven year old nerd.”

She smiled and sat down to look at the list of students, calling out the first few names on the list before one of them caught his attention: Annabeth Chase. 

Annabeth stood up confidently.

“My name is Annabeth Chase, I’m seventeen years old and I really like reading, architecture and milkshakes, and my favorite subject is math,” she said.

If he wasn’t sure yet, Percy was _certainly_ sure now that he would never be this girl’s friend. No one in their right mind could like math.

The list moved on, and as people introduced themselves, Percy took mental notes of people he particularly had stuff in common with or that he liked. The first person that caught his attention was a guy named Jason, a tall blond wearing a bright blue t-shirt. He seemed relaxed and easygoing.

“Hi, I'm Jason Grace. I’m seventeen and I like swimming, judo and eating,” he said, smiling. Percy remembered Grover mentioning him and made a mental note to talk to him about the swimming team later.

Percy's own name was called not long after. He stood, biting his lip a little before straightening himself up. "Hi. I'm Percy Jackson, seventeen. I like sketching, surfing and being outside."

As he sat back down, he caught Annabeth sneering at him.

 _What is it with this girl?_ , he thought, watching her turn back to the board.

A few more people caught Percy's attention after that. A Hispanic kid named Leo, with a crazy grin and messy hair; a girl called Reyna with long black hair and an intense gaze; a blond boy with freckles that introduced himself as Will Solace (Percy also remembered Grover mentioning him). At one point, a pretty girl with choppy hair and baggy jeans stood up.

“My name is Piper McLean, and I’m sixteen years old. I like singing and watching old movies.” She had a melodic voice, and she smiled softly while she talked. 

Percy saw Annabeth look at her, an interested gleam in her eyes, as if evaluating if befriending Piper would interfere with her plans of world domination. He was so lost in thought, Percy hadn’t realized she was now looking straight at him, and he must have been grimacing in his thoughts, judging by her glare. He looked away and avoided her eyes as hard as he could.

When the class was done with the introductions, Miss Hayden got up and talked about the projects they were going to do throughout the year, and had just started explaining everything about the project Grover had told him about.

“... can do anything you choose, and you’ll get special marks for it if you surprise me. As you probably know, I will be the one pairing you, so you cannot pick your own partner -”

She stopped talking abruptly when she saw a hand shoot up in the air.

“Yes, Miss Chase?” she looked at Annabeth, brows slightly furrowed.

“Miss Hayden, sorry to interrupt…” Annabeth had that smug smile on her face again. “But I wanted to know if I could get extra classes to learn structural isomerism and stereoisomerism. I know it’s not that important right now, but I want to have as much advanced Chemistry as possible in my applications and I always like to be a bit ahead of myself -”

“Show-off…” Percy murmured.

He said it a bit louder than he intended to, and he felt the whole class freezing and turning to look at the one who dared insult Annabeth Chase. Percy didn’t even think about all the eyes on him - he was busy focusing on the girl’s completely indignant look. He maintained an unfazed expression.

Too late to back out now.

“What?” he asked, looking at her straight in the eye. “It’s true! We didn’t even start the school year yet, and you already want to be ahead of the entire class!”

“Now now, Mr. Jackson,” Mrs. Hayden adverted. “We’re all getting to know each other, we don’t have to start fights -”

“No, it’s okay, Mrs. Hayden.” Annabeth’s tone was deadly calm, which was somehow worse than if she had screamed at him. “Let Percy share his opinion. It’s clearly something totally crucial for this class, telling everyone just how much of a show-off I am. Maybe I should also go ahead and share how arrogant and shallow he is?” 

Percy stood up. “Yeah? Maybe the class should also know how you’re a judgmental pain in the ass who's obsessed with grades!”

She stood up, scowling harder than ever. “Well, if you actually _knew_ me, you would know that I like having my priorities straight! At least _I_ won’t be living in a dumpster eating pizza from a trash can in five years.”

“Well, if you actually knew _me_ , you’d know that I do have my priorities straight, the main one being avoiding neurotic and annoying girls like you!”

They were both standing now, all but screaming at each other. Annabeth opened her mouth and was just about to retort when Mrs. Hayden stood up from her chair and cleared her throat loudly, looking at them with a dead-serious expression, and the room fell silent.

“I think we already have the first pair for the project," she said. Her voice was low and intimidating. "For the rest of the year _._ ”

“ _WHAT_?” 

They both looked at her incredulously and shot a dirty look at each other, but the teacher ignored their expressions.

“You heard me. You will work together until you can stand each other. I will not be forced to endure this all year.” Miss Hayden’s tone was final - there was no way out of this.

Percy sat back on his chair, defeated, and glared at his desk. He heard Annabeth sitting down and huffing, but he didn’t look up. He waited silently for the class to end, not looking at her once, and when he heard the bell ring, he was the first to leave the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is the first chapter! I hope you liked it. (I am aware that it's not the best, as I said, but it'll get better I promise!!) I have most of the chapters sorta ready, so you should expect an update soon. please comment what you think :)


	2. first week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a second there, something that looked like actual doubt had flashed through her eyes - and it was so different from Annabeth’s usual proud expression, he thought he’d imagined it. He stopped his thoughts. You hate this girl. You don’t have to worry about her.
> 
> But he still found himself thinking about Annabeth an hour later during dinner, and when he was watching TV, and when he was lying in bed trying to fall asleep.

The rest of the week went on. Percy usually hung out with Grover between classes, and he talked to Nico whenever Mr. D was busy lecturing someone. During Chemistry he ignored Annabeth, which wasn’t hard since she was also ignoring him. An annoying little voice in the back of his mind kept reminding him that they couldn’t keep this up forever - they’d have to deal with each other and do the project eventually. But he was going to enjoy her absence as long as he could.

On Friday, Percy went to the pool for his audition for the swim team. He hadn’t actually talked to anyone in the team aside from that guy Jason from Mrs. Hayden’s class. Percy had seen him and that girl Piper hanging out with Annabeth during lunch, so technically he was a friend of the enemy, but the dude really seemed super nice. So when Jason had approached him after class at the lockers, Percy couldn't help but smile.

“Hey, Percy right?” Jason asked, extending a hand to him for Percy to shake. “Uh, I heard you like swimming.”

Percy shook his hand warmly. “Yeah. I heard you're part of the swimming team?”

Jason nodded. "Yeah, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. We have an opening. I thought you seemed like a nice guy, even though there was the incident with…” he faltered and weaved his fingers through his hair nervously, avoiding Percy’s eyes. “Um, anyway, I just wanted to say tryouts are coming up, if you wanted to join.” 

He looked at Percy again and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. Percy decided to just ignore that last part and grinned at him.

“Oh, sure! Cool! When are they?”

Jason seemed to relax a little and smiled back at Percy. “Friday. I can show you how to get to the pool later, if you like, but I think you'll be able to find us."

Percy's eyebrows pinched questioningly. "Uh, what do you mean?"

Jason chuckled. "Our coach, Gleeson Hedge. He can be a little... _loud_. But he’s supportive, in his own way.” Jason smirked a little and Percy felt like he was missing an inside joke or something, but he decided not to ask. He closed his locker and told Jason he'd see him later, already walking away, but the boy caught his wrist, turning Percy to face him again. Jason recoiled, scratching his neck awkwardly again.

“Uh, about Annabeth…” he hesitated. “She’s… she’s not that bad once you get to know her. Just thought you should know. See you later.”

As he walked away, Percy wondered how a nice guy like Jason could stand a girl like her. He seemed so… friendly, and she was like some kind of people repellent. 

But he also knew that each person was different. Percy himself usually gave people second chances, but he knew that some people weren’t like that, and first impressions stuck forever. If Annabeth thought that way and Percy kept being stubborn, they’d never finish their project. Somebody had to budge.

e decided he’d give Annabeth Chase a second chance, and hoped she’d give him one too.

When he arrived at the swimming pool, he expected a lot of things from the coach, especially after Jason’s little comment, but he did _not_ expect what was in front of him.

The man was really buff, dressed in a bright orange shirt, nylon pants and a cap on his head. He had a goatee that quirked up when he scowled (which he did a lot), and he was screaming in a megaphone at a group of teenage boys. He would have been really scary - if he weren’t just five feet tall.

“I WANT FULL COMMITMENT HERE, UNDERSTAND? _FULL COMMITMENT!_ ” His megaphone was getting a spit shower, but the coach didn’t seem to notice.

The other boys looked at him apprehensively, gathered next to the big, twenty-meter long indoor swimming pool. The coach’s yells echoed through the place. _Is the megaphone really necessary?_ , Percy thought.

He left his bag on the floor where the others’ were and scanned the bunch, looking for Jason. He found him standing next to another kid - he was also blond, but his hair was longer and shaggier. He had a deep tan and he was a few inches shorter than Jason. He looked like a surfer that had just gotten out of the sea - relaxed and content. Percy recognized him from class - Will Solace. 

“Hey,” Percy said quietly, not wanting any attention. “Am I late?”

“Hey. No, we’ve just started,” Jason grinned. “Will, this is Percy Jackson.”

Will extended a hand, and Percy took it. 

“Yeah, from Chem, right?” The boy smiled, and Percy nodded. They talked for a few minutes before a voice boomed and startled them into paying attention.

“OKAY, EVERYONE! LET’S BEGIN! GET IN LINE!”

Jason and Will left the group, saying they'd watch from the benches. Percy shrugged and joined the line forming next to the pool. 

He watched the other kids, analyzing his competition. There were a few good ones, a few not so good ones and a few that he knew had no chance. While they performed different swimming methods, Hedge kept screaming things like ‘GIMME EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT!’ and ‘DO YOU WANT ME TO GET MY BASEBALL BAT?’

He could see the yelling was upsetting the other guys, since they kept glancing at the coach worriedly and flinching in the water every time his voice exploded from the megaphone, but Percy didn’t worry about it. Nothing could upset him as long as he was swimming. When his turn came, he walked over and touched the clear water with his toes, immediately relaxing. He got in.

As soon as he entered the water, nothing else mattered. He was barely aware of the noises around him - everything became muffled, he forgot he was being watched by a dozen other teens, and the only thing he paid attention to was the feeling of the water around him. He grinned a little before he heard the whistle, and he kicked the wall.

Percy moved in harmony with the water. He drifted through it so easily it looked like he swam better than walked, and he didn’t even care he was being evaluated - he simply enjoyed the cool smoothness of the water around him. He always felt some sort of bliss when he was swimming, like his hyperactive mind went silent for a little while.

He emerged from the pool and rubbed some water off his face, sighing contently as he opened his eyes. He spotted Hedge looking at him with a serious expression. Percy anxiously waited for him to do something, say something - but it never came. Instead, the man turned to the other boys.

“YOU ARE ALL DISMISSED!”

There were a few defeated groans and all the boys except for Jason and Will grabbed their bags and left the pool. They seemed to have come to a silent agreement - Percy just didn’t know what it was.

Hedge stared at him for a few seconds and when Percy thought he was finally going to say something, the man just turned around and walked out the door. Percy took that as his cue to leave, so he got out of the pool and grabbed a towel from a pile on a chair and started drying off his hair. He was still very confused when he spotted Jason practically hopping towards him with a wild look on his face, Will coming along right behind him. 

“ _Dude_ ,” Will said as they got closer.

“Percy, what the hell?” Jason exclaimed.

Percy looked at them worriedly, tugging his eyebrows together. “What happened? What did I do wrong?”

Jason stared at him incredulously. “Wrong? What did you do _wrong?_ Percy, you were _incredible!_ ” His excitement was barely contained as he reached down and grabbed Percy's wet shoulders, shaking them firmly as he grinned.

“Seriously Percy, that was _really_ good.” Will looked just as excited as Jason. “You’re better than some of the guys in our team, and we’ve been training for a year!”

Percy shrugged modestly. “Um, thanks, guys. I… it - it wasn’t that great.” He tried to hide his sheepish tone and the heat that went up his face.

“ _Wasn’t that great?_ I wonder how good you'll be when you _are_ ‘that great’!” Will said, smiling playfully.

Percy chuckled. “Where did the coach go?"

Will shrugged. "Probably to the bathroom or something."

"Uh, I thought he would want to talk to me -”

“Oh, he does. Trust me,” Jason smiled.

The coach was walking back in, and his expression was _almost_ a smile - Percy interpreted that as a huge grin in Hedge language.

“You have talent, kid," he said. "You can begin your training on Monday. You _do_ want to join the team, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Percy exclaimed. "Yeah, I really do."

“You’re in.” Coach Hedge gave him a curt nod. "We have practice every morning on weekdays, 5 AM. Don't be late."

After Hedge left, Percy walked back to the parking lot with Jason and Will, barely containing his excitement.

“We’re going to go have some burgers in this really good place we always go,” Will said. “Wanna come with?”

“Sure,” Percy answered.

“Cool!" Jason said. "We’re all carpooling in Will’s car.”

“I can even give you a ride home, if you like,” Will added lightly.

“Okay. Can I borrow a phone? Just gotta tell my mom where I’ll be,” Percy said.

Jason looked at him questioningly. "Uh, you don't have a phone?"

Percy scratched his head sheepishly. He was never that open about him an his mom's financial situation. He didn't like to be pitied, so he usually just kept that part of his life private. Jason seemed to notice his reaction.

"Oh, don't worry! Here, take it. You can use it as much as you need."

He handed Percy his phone. Percy shot him a grateful look, thankful that Jason respected his privacy.

"Thanks," Percy said, dialing his mother's number. She picked it up after a few seconds.

“Hello?” Sally Jackson’s voice came through the phone.

“Hey mom, it’s Percy,” he answered. “You can add this phone number to your contact list, it’s my friend Jason’s. Good news: I got in the swim team!”

“Oh, that’s amazing, Percy!” He could hear her smiling through her voice.

“Yeah! So, the guys from the team are going to go out for burgers, I thought it would be cool to go and get to know them.”

“That’s fine, honey,” she said. “Where's place?”

“Jason said it’s this place called Buffalo Burgers, it’s close to school.”

“Okay. Just be back by seven thirty.”

“Sure, mom. See you later!”

He hung up and gave Jason back his phone. “I’m coming!”

The boy smiled. “Let’s get moving, then!”

***

Percy couldn’t remember the last time he’d made friends this fast. After he went out for burgers with the guys from the swim team, he talked to them all the time, specially Jason, since they also had Chemistry together. For that reason, Percy also started going out with Jason’s other friends, Piper and Leo. They were really cool - Piper was really nice and Leo kind of shared Percy’s stupid sense of humor, so they got along fine. 

He also managed to not detention yet, which was a miracle, since it was practically impossible able to hold back snarky comments in Mr. D’s class. That girl Hazel was almost always able to calm their teacher down. She kind of was that way: calm and soothing. Percy also started to hang out with her and Nico di Angelo. He discovered that she was the boy’s half-sister, and Percy had to say he would have never known if they hadn’t said anything, since they were so different - Hazel, with her dark skin and curly hair, kind smile and calming aura was Nico’s absolute opposite, with his pale skin, punk-rock style and the intimidating way he stared at people sometimes. 

He also noticed Hazel always talked to that big Asian guy from algebra, Frank. He was new too (from Canada), and he seemed really shy, so Hazel said she’d befriend him. She liked people to feel welcome. Another thing that was extremely different from Nico. That guy was as warm as a coffin most of the time, even though past his hard shell, he was actually pretty cool. He still didn’t talk much about his personal life, but he had this dark and sarcastic sense of humor that Percy quickly adapted to. He also liked some pretty cool bands and watching sci-fi, so he deducted Nico could be his new Star-Wars partner. 

So Percy’s life in school was going pretty well. The only thing that was annoying him was that little reminder in the back of his head that he was delaying an inevitable disaster: his project with Annabeth Chase.

Part of him knew he’d have to deal with what he’d started calling ‘The Annabeth Situation’ soon enough, but things were going so well, he didn’t want to ruin everything at Goode; so he just waited for when Annabeth would give in and go after him to talk about the project (which, knowing her obsession with school, he thought wouldn’t take long). That's why he was not surprised when, two weeks after their fight, she approached him in the hallway.

“Hey, Percy!” He turned around to look at Annabeth, who already looked annoyed. “Listen, as long as I want to ignore you for the rest of the year, I know we have to do this project. I’m free this Friday, so I’ll be in the library during the afternoon. If you’re not there I’ll simply start without you. Understand?” 

She looked at him as if he were a five year old needing a lecture, and anger started boiling in the pit of Percy’s stomach, but he just nodded and huffed, walking away without even glancing at her again.

That afternoon he sat in his room, trying to understand the words floating off his History book, and thought of how Friday would go. He was almost changing his mind about giving Annabeth a second chance, when he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” he said, and the door opened to reveal his mom in glasses and her graying hair tied up. She looked like she’d been working. “Hey, mom. Were you writing?”

She smiled. “Yeah, but I just finished a chapter and I decided to come over and ask how you’re doing.”

She walked over and looked at his book over his shoulder, kissing the top of his head.

“I’m fine. Just working on some homework,” he said, not looking up.

“Doesn’t look like you’ve done much progress.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory. “Thinking of other things? How was your week?”

“It’s been okay. I’m just worried about a project,” he admitted. There was no point trying to hide anything from Sally. She'd discover everything eventually anyway.

“Why? Is it too hard already?” Her soft voice was calming.

“No, the problem is the person I have to do it with. It’s this girl Annabeth,” he sighed.

“Is she your crush or something?”

Percy turned around so fast his head almost hit Sally's chin.

“Ew, mom! No! She's super annoying.”

Sally lifted her hands in surrender, raising her eyebrows. “Okay, okay. Sorry I said anything.”

Percy took a deep breath. “Sorry, mom. It’s just… ugh. She’s horrible. We started fighting in Chemistry class, so the teacher paired us up to do this project, and I’m supposed to go to the library to meet her so we can start doing it, but I can’t even stand staying in the same room as her for very long. She scowls at me every time I open my mouth before I even have the chance to say anything, and she’s always blabbering about architecture during class. How are we ever going to make this work?”

He rubbed his temples, looking at the book again as if the jumbled letters were going to make him feel any better.

Sally looked at him thoughtfully before speaking. “I think the teacher is smart. As much as you dislike this girl, you have to be able to at least have a conversation with her without starting a fight. Maybe she’s in a bad place right now, or maybe she had a bad first impression of you or something. I think you should at least give her a chance. She might be nicer than she seems.”

As always, his mom was right.

But that still didn’t take away Percy’s dread as he walked down the hallway that Friday to meet Annabeth. He spotted her as soon as he entered the room, even though there were some other people around. Her blonde princess curls tied up in a bun were impossible not to spot as she sat on a table surrounded by open books, reading a bit of each one and flipping the pages, occasionally pushing her glasses back up her nose and scribbling things on a small notebook with her black pen. 

_She looks kinda cute like this,_ Percy thought, then mentally slapped himself on the face. He was supposed to hate this girl, not notice that kind of thing. He ignored the small voice in his head that had retorted _But it’s true!_ as he walked over to her and threw his bag on the floor lazily. She gave the bag a dirty look like it was infected or something before returning her attention to the books. He sat down on the other side of the table.

“Didn’t think you’d actually come,” she said dismissively.

“I actually keep my word, contrary to popular belief.” He glanced pointedly at her. “So, what are we going to do? Any ideas in mind?”

She looked up at him, the usual annoyance present in her expression. “I have it all figured out beforehand, since I knew that, if you came at all, you’d be totally clueless.” She gestured to the books. “I’m doing research on electrolysis of water. We can do the presentation to show how energy is generated when you break liquid water into particles of hydrogen and oxygen,” she shrugged.

“Okay. I’m going to look up what we can do to show that process to the class. I think they have a computer here in the library. And, _for the record,_ ” he gave her a sarcastic smile, “I knew _you’d_ expect me not to bring any ideas, so I made research beforehand, too. But I also know you don’t give a shit about my own research and that you’ll want to do your own idea anyways, so I’ll just go with it.” He got up and walked towards the computer in the corner of the library, leaving Annabeth with her eyebrows a bit raised, looking slightly surprised by her misjudgment. (Though she’d never admit it.)

After a few minutes he returned with a small list of things they should buy for the project. She had already gathered enough information to be able to do a report, so they sat to discuss each one’s responsibilities.

“I’m, uh, not that great at writing.” Percy usually wasn’t self-conscious about his dyslexia, but he thought Annabeth would laugh at him if he said anything. He didn’t want to give her something else to use against him. “But I can buy the things we’ll need, if you’ll take that responsibility.” 

“I… yeah. Yeah, of course.” She looked at him and for a second he caught something different in her eyes. Was it… doubt? It was gone before he could make up his mind. “You aren’t going to forget anything, right?” she asked, her tone back to its bossy self.

“I think I can manage some groceries, Chase,” he said roughly. She rolled her eyes.

“You have a hard time processing simple phrases, I don’t know what to expect,” she teased, scowling. Percy was about to retort when she got up suddenly, grabbing her things. “I’ll see you later. I gotta leave, before my mom…” she glanced at the floor nervously. “Uh, before my mom finishes making dinner. I’ll give you my phone number in case we have to talk about the project out of class.”

She gave him a small piece of paper with her phone number scribbled on it and walked away before he could say anything.

 _Woah,_ Percy thought, _that was weird._

For a second there, something that looked like _actual doubt_ had flashed through her eyes, and it was so different from Annabeth’s usual proud expression, he thought he’d imagined it. He stopped his thoughts. _You hate this girl. You don’t have to worry about her._

But he still found himself thinking about Annabeth an hour later during dinner, and when he was watching TV, and when he was lying in bed trying to fall asleep.

***

“Are you sure they won’t mind us coming with?” Hazel seemed a bit nervous as she walked down the hall to the cafeteria. 

“Yeah, Percy,” Frank added. “I don’t know about this. What if they feel uncomfortable? If they’re as nice as you, they won’t say anything.”

“Guys, relax,” Percy said. “They’re cool. I’ve told them all about you three, and I think they’ll like you just as much as I do.”

Hazel and Frank shared an uncertain look, but Nico didn’t say anything, simply staring at the floor as the four of them walked towards lunch. They reached the cafeteria and quickly spotted the small group of people gathered around a table: Jason laughing as he sat close to Piper, Leo on the other side grinning and playing with a plastic fork and Will leaning on the white pillar next to them, smiling and rolling his eyes at Leo.

“Hey everyone,” Percy smiled as he dropped his bag on the floor. “I’d like to introduce you to my algebra friends. This is Hazel, Frank and Nico.” He gestured to each one of them as he said their names. 

“Hi, everybody,” Hazel grinned. Frank smiled shyly and waved a little, while Nico simply nodded at them and sat at the end of the table as the other two picked seats next to Percy.

“Hey!” Piper said, smiling warmly. She’d always been good with people. “I’m Piper, but people mostly call me Pipes. This is Leo, Jason and Will.” She also gestured to each one of them as she spoke. Jason waved and the others grinned at them.

“Jason, Frank has also lived in San Fran,” Percy said, wanting to start a conversation. It worked, and soon Jason was going on and on about his camp in California and asking Frank questions about where he used to live. Frank was a little timid at first, but got engaged in the conversation after Jason started talking about football.

Leo started telling Percy about his new project in his Robotics class, saying things about the importance of calculus in the functioning of computers and the uses of the spheres in the modern world. Percy didn’t understand half of what he was saying, but it was cool hearing about all the things Leo was building. 

“I’m thinking of beginning the construction of my robotic vacuum cleaner, and I actually think it’ll work this time. Maybe I should listen to some Metallica while I work, the robot might learn to recognize cliffs easier.” He laughed at his own joke despite Percy’s confused expression. “You know, because he’ll listen to Cliff Burton? The bassist?” 

When Percy’s confused look didn’t change, he shrugged. 

“Never mind. Ugh, I wish Charles were here to understand that. Such a waste that no one gets robot jokes here. Anyway-” 

He went back to his blabbering and the time flew as they all talked and laughed together. Hazel had started talking to Piper about ecological causes and animal protection. He knew Hazel liked animals, especially horses, but they’d never talked much about the subject. He was glad his friends found things in common. 

The only one that seemed kind of left out was Nico, sitting in the corner and doing what appeared to be sketches on his notebook, occasionally glancing at the others. 

Later on, when Leo had started talking to Hazel and Piper, Percy felt a tug on his shirt. He turned around as Will pulled him away from the table.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Percy asked.

“What’s Nico into?” Will asked, glancing at the black-haired boy sitting at the table, focused on his book. Percy couldn’t help but notice that Will was acting a bit different, a strange gleam in his eyes and biting his lip as he observed Nico.

“What do you mean? Like music and stuff?” Percy said, looking at him confusedly. Will rolled his eyes. 

“No, idiot,” he answered, shooting Percy an annoyed look, tough he knew his friend wasn’t actually mad. “I mean boys or girls _._ ” 

Will glanced at Nico again and Percy finally understood what was different in his eyes: _interest._

He didn’t know what to say. He was Nico’s friend, but he didn’t really know much about his life. He never really noticed or asked about his sexuality. Actually, Percy didn't even know about _Will’s_ sexuality until now, since he never really talked about his love life.

“I don’t know,” Percy answered honestly, giving him an earnest look. “I actually don’t know a lot about his personal life. He’s kind of… reserved _._ ”

“That’s unfortunate. I really felt like kissing him senseless.” Will smirked at Percy’s surprised smile. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself. Thanks, anyway.” He walked over to Nico and pulled up a chair next to him.

Percy watched as Nico glanced nervously at Will, obvious surprise in his expression. Will said something and gestured to Nico’s notebook, and Nico swallowed, blushing a little. He glanced at Will and back to the book, then hesitantly gave it to him, letting him flip through the pages. He saw Will’s wide smile as he said something to the other boy, and judging by Nico’s now slightly more apparent blush, he was complimenting him. If Percy didn’t know Nico’s sexuality before, he sure did now. He smiled at the scene and looked away, wanting to give them some privacy, but he couldn’t help but think about how cute they looked together.

It was almost enough of a distraction for him to miss Annabeth's expression as she walked into the cafeteria, spotting Piper and Jason sitting with him. Almost.

***

Annabeth was sitting on a bench at the park, typing fast in her laptop as Percy approached her for their second encounter for the project. They were going to actually start the experimenting this time. As he approached her, he caught himself thinking about how pretty she looked with the late afternoon light illuminating her golden hair. He scolded himself silently for thinking that as he got closer.

He couldn’t lie to himself - he noticed how pretty she was way more than he wanted to admit, and he couldn’t help but stare a little. She was still utterly irritating, still shot him dirty looks during class and he still wanted to strangle her most of the time, but when he didn’t, he just couldn’t help admiring those soft blonde curls and the small blush she always had on her cheeks. She might be a pain in the ass, but she _was_ pretty, no doubt about that.

It was getting easier to be with her, though. She spent less time shooting snarky remarks at him and more time talking like a normal human being. Sometimes he managed to get a small smile out of her, which made him feel a little warm inside.

But obviously they were not friends. It’s not like he liked her or anything.

When she saw him, she closed her laptop and glanced at the plastic bag he brought.

“Did you bring everything?” Her voice was sharp, as always.

“Jeez… hello to you too,” he said, dropping the bag on the table. She rolled her eyes, like she did every time he said anything, but he didn’t mind. It was kind of cute. 

_Shut up!_ , he told himself. _You do NOT like her._

“Yeah, I brought everything.”

Percy sat down next to her and started pulling things out of the bag - everything they needed for the experiment. He had triple checked the list, so he was sure he'd brought everything. He looked at her triumphantly, until he realized she was glaring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You forgot the lemon,” she said flatly. He looked above her, failing miserably to contain his grin. She scowled harder as he tried not to laugh.

“What on _earth_ are you laughing about? You had _one job!_ Can’t you manage to go to a grocery store and buy a few items from a list?”

At this point, he was red from trying not to laugh, and she seemed ready to explode. When she opened her mouth again, he interrupted.

“Look up.” 

Right over her head was hanging a huge lemon from the tree they sat under. As she stared incredulously at it, Percy finally burst out laughing, and his stomach hurt as she picked the lemon from the tree and looked at him, very much not amused. 

“Annabeth, I can’t believe you didn’t notice this park is full of _lemon trees!_ ” Percy wheezed.

“Yeah, yeah, very funny… enough already.” She rolled her eyes again, but this time her lips quirked up, like she was holding back a smile. “Let’s do this thing before I end up strangling you.” 

“Okay, let’s begin,” he chuckled. 

They got to work and in no time the device was ready. They worked in silence, watching the different reactions, but Percy could see that Annabeth really liked doing this. She did everything enthusiastically and she got really excited whenever they got good results, visibly wrestling a smile. He also realized she loved correcting, so he concluded she must have loved working with him, considering how many things he got wrong. Once they’d finished observing the reaction, Annabeth started typing notes on her computer. 

“We have to actually show this in class too, so we’re far from done with the project,” she said.

He should have felt bad they still had so much work to do, but part of him felt kind of good he wasn’t finished working with Annabeth. Huh.

“Sure. Do you need any help writing the report?”

“I can do it!” Her voice was harsh as she said it. He looked at her suspiciously and searched her expression, but before he could say anything, she looked around nervously and spoke again. “Uh, I mean, no. I don’t need any help. Thanks.”

“Uh, okay,” Percy said. “I just hope you are aware that you’re dismissing the help of a genius, here.”

What happened next surprised Percy so much, his brain went blank. Instead of the usual scowl or eye-roll, she was actually _smiling,_ and Percy realized he’d never seen her really smile before - at least, not at _him_ \- and _gods,_ was it a good change. If he thought she looked pretty before, it was nothing compared to now; she wasn’t even just pretty, she was _beautiful._

Percy found himself talking to her the rest of the evening, finding things to do as an excuse to stay. The sun was starting to set when her phone started ringing. Glancing at the phone, Annabeth jumped up from her seat and picked it up, eyes wide. She walked away a little and answered.

“Um, hi, mom.”

The person's yells were so loud, even Percy could hear them standing feet away from her. Though he couldn’t understand what she was saying, he knew Annabeth's mom was not happy.

“No - mom, I’m not getting distracted, I swear - we were doing our - no, mom, _please,_ just let me explain -” she tried to say, but the screaming on the phone continued endlessly. “Mother, I swear I am giving my studies full attention! I’ve already studied for math in advance - no, I’m not raising my voice, I’m just - mother _please_ , if you’d just _listen…_ ” The voice on the phone said a few more firm words, as if ending the subject. “Okay, mom. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Annabeth hung up the phone, turning around and walking towards the table. She gathered her things, avoiding Percy’s eyes. 

“Annabeth, is everything okay?” He stood and walked up to her, touching her shoulder lightly. “What happened? Do you want me to-”

“This has nothing to do with you, Percy.” Her voice was firm, but when she looked up at him, he realized she had tears in her eyes. She shook his hand off. “I have to go.”

And just as she walked away, Percy realized what the deal was with Annabeth: her tough, demanding personality, her obsession with her studies, the way she felt offended so easily, it was all a cover up - a shell to cope with her mother’s pressure. Her mom was so strict that she pressured others just as much - and herself even more. Percy promised himself he wouldn’t judge her anymore, much less go against her. He needed to break those walls of hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my dudes! another chapter for ya, hope you like it. still a little shit, I know, but it gets better!! anyway, please comment what you think :)


	3. getting to know you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looked up again and gave him a smile, and wow.
> 
> It was one of those unconscious, genuine smiles that only lasted about two seconds, but Percy’s insides squirmed, his breath hitched, and he felt his heart race. She didn’t seem to notice, but he had to force himself to look somewhere else that wasn’t her beautiful eyes or her long lashes or her golden princess curls she kept tied up in a ponytail.
> 
> Dude, get your shit together!, he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you read this: I added the last bit of the last chapter after I posted it. take a look at chapter 2 before reading this just in case you missed it!

Percy never really liked the library. It smelled weird, it was too closed off and, well, it was full of books he struggled to read. And yet, for some unknown reason, there he was on a perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon.

Well, actually, it wasn’t an unknown reason. It was because of Annabeth.

“So, apparently you like Chemistry a lot,” he stated casually, watching her as she wrote down some notes about the experiment they’d done that week. She looked up at him.

“Yeah, but it’s not my absolute favorite subject. I much prefer talking about-”

“Architecture,” he interrupted. “Yeah, I know. You talk about that a lot.” 

He smiled at her, and he didn’t fail to notice the little blush on her cheeks as she looked down, biting her lip. He pretended his heart didn’t flutter a little. 

“I didn’t know you actually noticed what I said in class.” She was still staring at her lap, and he had to contain himself so he wouldn’t reach out and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She looked up again and gave him a smile, and _wow._

It was one of those unconscious, genuine smiles that only lasted about two seconds, but Percy’s insides squirmed, his breath hitched, and he felt his heart race. She didn’t seem to notice, but he had to force himself to look somewhere else that wasn’t her beautiful eyes or her long lashes or her golden princess curls she kept tied up in a ponytail.

 _Dude, get your shit together!,_ he thought. 

He blinked and tried to recompose himself. “Uh, reading is kind of… hard for me, so I usually pay attention to other things during class.”

She looked like she was genuinely interested in what he was saying, which caught him off guard. He saw a little bit of doubt in her eyes before she said:

“You’re dyslexic.”

It wasn’t a question, but she wasn’t being harsh. Still, he opened his mouth to retort, and was surprised as Annabeth lifted one of her hands and put a finger over his lips to stop him. His heart started beating faster with the sudden touch.

“You don’t have to say anything. I...” She took a deep breath. “I’m dyslexic, too.”

His eyebrows shot up as she dropped her hand back onto her lap. He was shocked. Annabeth, the smartest girl in his class, had the same disorder as he did. It was almost too hard to believe. 

“I also have ADHD,” she said. “I take medicine for that, so usually it’s not so bad, but I was really nervous because this morning I realized I ran out of it, and sometimes I feel so stupid when I don’t take it. I thought you were going to think I was dumb or something, and I just -”

“Annabeth.”

Percy’s voice seemed to get her out of her own brain and she looked at him, insecurity showing in her eyes. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this from her.

“I have ADHD, too,” he said, unsure why she had a surprised expression on her face. “I honestly don’t know how you never noticed. I know exactly how you feel.”

She looked down and her eyebrows tugged together. “I guess I was too worried about not looking stupid. People always used to treat me like I was just some dumb blonde. I wanted to prove everyone wrong.”

Percy touched her knee and she shifted a little, but didn’t shy away.

“Annabeth, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would ever think you’re stupid.”

She blushed and he felt that flutter inside him again. They both stayed like that for a while, until suddenly he felt awkward. This girl didn’t even want to be friends with him, and yet there he was, touching her knee and comforting her. He recoiled and scratched the back of his neck, staring at the table in front of them. She bit her lip again.

“So, um…” she started. “What _do_ you do during classes, if you don’t really pay attention to the lectures?”

Her voice was soft and genuine and he looked at her - her soft hair that almost glowed in the low light and the freckles sprinkled on her cheeks, and he couldn’t ignore the little voice in his head that said: _Wow, she really is beautiful._

He didn’t stop it.

“Well,” he said. “I mostly just concentrate on my drawings.”

Her face lit up. “Really? Like actual drawings?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, now feeling himself blush. “Uh, yeah.”

“You’re kidding!” She beamed at him, leaning a little closer to him. “Can I see any?”

He looked down, embarrassed, and her amused expression vanished, turning into an apologetic look. She leaned back sheepishly. He wished she hadn't. “Sorry. That’s personal. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Uh, no, it’s okay…” he said, looking up. “Maybe… maybe someday you can see them.” His lips quirked up a little in a shy smile and he felt his face burning. He hoped it didn’t look the way it felt.

She smiled a little at him. “I… I’d like that very much.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds too long - a few seconds in which Percy noticed her eyes. To him, they had always seemed really intimidating: a dark shade of gray that always had this intensity that made him uncomfortable. But he had started seeing them in a different way - the way they looked right now. They had a different gleam; her long, curled lashes gave them clarity and they seemed to sparkle, like she had a whole galaxy of stars inside. He realized he had never stopped to appreciate them.

He stared at the floor, carefully avoiding spending all the time looking at her. (Though he did glance a few times to see if she still looked cute. Hint: she did.) He couldn’t remember when he’d started feeling those things, when the annoyance went away and turned into fondness and warmth and butterflies. Still, Percy knew he had to cut it out, because she would never feel the same for him.

“Will you stop staring, Seaweed Brain?”

He felt his face burn as he registered what she said. Then, he blinked. “Seaweed Brain?”

“Yeah. Cause you’re a dork." A teasing smile was beginning to grow on her face. "And you swim, don’t you?”

“Well, I sure do,” he smirked. “ _Wise Girl._ ”

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. It really was cute when she did that. “Wise girl? Seriously?”

He shrugged, grinning goofily. “You’re the one that started with the nicknames.” 

“Fair point.” She was quiet for a while. “Hey, you’re friends with Jason, aren’t you?” 

Percy nodded. “Yeah. He’s pretty cool. He makes Hedge more bearable when he’s in his intense coach mode.” He smiled to himself. 

“What do you mean, ‘intense coach mode’?” she asked curiously.

“We’re going to have our first swimming competition of the year in a couple of weeks. Jason always lightens the mood when Coach starts getting too crazy during swim practice.” Percy scowled and tensed up his shoulders, pretending to swing a baseball bat. "I MAY BE FIVE FEET TALL BUT I CAN STILL REACH YOUR SHINS, YOU LAZY LOITER-SACKS!"

Annabeth laughed loudly and then covered her mouth, apparently remembering she was in a library. She giggled into her hand. 

"You're such a bad influence, Percy Jackson," she faked seriousness. "Look at what I have become. The loud person in the library."

Percy just grinned, trying to ignore the butterflies exploding inside him as she smiled at him and turned back to her laptop.

***

The next day, as he sat next to Grover during lunch break, he was thinking about Annabeth.

She needed to stop occupying such a large space inside his brain.

"...and I'm so excited because it's a huge project," Grover was saying. "And it's going to help so many animals. It really is rough for them out there."

His friend glanced at him, noticing his eyes were glazed over. "Also, I'm going to Mars next week forever. I'm officially becoming a martian."

Percy nodded. "Cool, man. That's really great."

Grover sighed exasperatedly and shoved Percy, breaking his trance. "Dude, you're not listening to a word I'm saying!" 

Percy stared and then bowed his head, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, Grover," he said. "I'm just a little distracted."

Grover looked at him with a serious expression. "Perce, this has been going on for a while now. You're acting weird, like your head is in the clouds. What's actually happening?"

It was incredible how well his friend knew him, even though their friendship was fairly new. Percy sighed and buried his face in his hands, saying something that came out muffled. 

"What?" Grover asked. 

Percy lifted his head, looking dreadful. "I have a crush on Annabeth Chase."

Grover stared at him for about three seconds before he burst out laughing. 

" _I KNEW IT!_ " Grover's voice had gone uncharacteristically loud. "I FREAKING KNEW IT, I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN-"

"Dude, shut up!" Percy looked around, noticing the stares they were receiving from the students eating around them. "You can make fun of me all you want. I'm already miserable, anyway."

Grover's laughter stopped abruptly. "Sorry, I wasn't making fun of you." He paused. "But why do you feel so terrible? Isn't it a good thing?"

"No, because I'm absolutely sure she doesn't like me back." Percy's face was buried in his hands again.

"Is she still being mean?" Grover asked. "I know she can be pretty snarky sometimes-"

Percy shook his head. "She's actually been... really nice," he said. "Last time we were together, she told me something that, uh, I think she hasn't told a lot of people."

"Well, why don't you think she likes you, then?" Grover asked. He really was a great friend. Percy had been oblivious to what he had been saying, and there he was, paying full attention and trying to help out.

"I... I don't know," Percy said finally. Grover studied him for a few seconds.

"I think you need to think about the way she's been acting when she's close to you, Percy," he said. "I honestly think she likes you, at least as a friend."

Percy thought about that as they walked to their lockers and during their last periods. He thought of the way Annabeth looked at him, no longer glaring. He thought of the times he made her laugh and she had played along with his jokes. He thought about the fact that she had come up with a nickname for him and the blush on his cheeks as she said it. 

And as he thought of those things, he also thought that, if didn't like him back, at least they could be friends.

***

Thursday came around faster than Percy thought it would. The third week of school was already flying by, and yet he felt like he'd been going to Goode his whole life, especially when it came to his new friendships. It was almost like he couldn't remember what it was like not seeing the people he now hung out with every day. He studied with Hazel, Frank and Nico every week; Jason, Leo and Piper had become his official after class snack buddies and Grover talked to him every day in between classes and during lunch break. He was also a lot closer to the guys from the swim team, seeing them every morning during practice.

The only grey area was Annabeth Chase. 

He didn't really know _what_ they were at this point. He knew that, whatever was happening, it didn't feel like they were enemies. The only thing was, he could never be sure when it came to her.

Percy sat on the edge of the pool after his morning practice, swinging his feet in the water, while Jason sat behind him eating a protein bar and talking about something Percy hadn't payed attention to. He turned his head and saw that his friend was looking at him expectantly, as if he had just asked Percy a question.

“Hello, Earth to Percy?" Jason said.

Percy raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Dude, what's going on?" His friend had a questioning look on his face. "Are you okay? You seem kind of... off."

"I'm fine," Percy answered. _Just thinking about the fact that I like a girl that will never like me back._

"If you say so..." Jason still looked suspiciously at Percy, but he continued. "Anyway, as I was saying, me and Pipes are gonna go hang out for the evening at Leo’s tomorrow, and maybe grab some food after. Wanna join?”

Percy shrugged. “Sure, but I gotta do something for the Chem project with Annabeth first. Sorry, bro.” He could feel Jason's stare on his back.

“Well, you don’t _sound_ sorry….” Percy could hear him grinning through his voice. “I thought you hated her.”

“I realized she’s not that bad,” Percy said as he got up and walked to the chair with the stack of towels, trying to look nonchalant. “Besides, it’s not like she’s a bad view…” he added to himself under his breath. 

Judging by the shocked expression on Jason’s face, his little comment hadn’t been as private as he’d liked.

“You _like_ her!” he exclaimed, smiling through his own surprise and pointing an accusing finger at Percy. 

Percy glared at him. “I do not _like_ her. I just think she’s kind of cute. Sometimes. And that her hair is pretty." He ignored Jason's smug smile. "Besides, you know _she_ hates _me_ , so nothing’s going to happen anyway.”

Jason’s teasing smile widened. “I meant as friends, but now I know you _like_ like her! That’s even better!”

Percy blushed a little, but headed towards his bag, pretending not to care. “I don’t. And I know you won’t say anything about it, because I know about you and Pipes.”

He glanced at Jason, who was now sitting on his chair wide-eyed and stiff, his blush going from down in his neck to the roots of his blond hair. 

“I do _not_ like Piper.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Percy.

Percy smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. For the record, I think she likes you back, so if I were you, I’d make a move before the friendzone monster shows up.”

Jason huffed. “I do _not_ like Piper.” The sentence was proved false just as he finished saying it, since as soon as her name left his mouth, he smiled a little and his eyes became unfocused, looking blissfully at the tiles on the floor. 

“Dude, you can’t even say her name without that dazed look on your face!” Percy laughed.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

They left the pool shoving each other and laughing playfully.

***

Friday afternoon they were at the library again, Annabeth typing the report furiously as Percy felt useless sitting next to her. There was almost nothing left to do for the project, really, so he was wondering why she had even asked him to meet her to do it. After about an hour, Percy shifted closer to her.

“Um, I think I’ll get going, Annabeth,” he said, sighing. “I don’t think I’ll be of much use here.”

He started getting up, but she grabbed his wrist.

“No!” Annabeth exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Stay.”

He looked at her questioningly, and her cheeks got a little red. “It’s just… it’s easier to work when you’re here.” She blushed even more, realizing she’d said ‘ _you_ ’, and Percy smiled, thinking he was really starting to like this other side of Annabeth - the soft, flustered Annabeth that blushed and looked at the floor shyly every time she showed vulnerability. He decided to make that side show more.

“Okay,” he said softly, sitting down again. “You don’t need any help, do you, Wise Girl?” He gave her his trademark crooked grin and looked at her teasingly. 

She stuck out her tongue. “No, Seaweed Brain, I don’t.” She rolled her eyes and gave him a wide smile before going back to her work. He didn't know how he had come to like this girl so much.

 _Because it's Annabeth,_ that little voice inside his brain said. 

After a few hours, he noticed it was almost five o’clock, and he’d promised his friends he’d be at Leo’s by that time, so he stood up. 

“Sorry, Annabeth, but I can’t stay much longer.” She looked up at him, brows slightly furrowed. “It’s just… I’m going out with Jason, Piper and Leo today.” 

When Annabeth heard that, she looked down, trying (and failing) to hide her disappointment, and it dawned on him: he was going to go out with _her_ friends, and she hadn’t been invited because they thought Percy wouldn’t like her coming with.

“I - I mean… you can, uh, come with, if you like.” He didn’t even think before he said it, but he didn't care. He just couldn’t stand to see her looking that sad.

“Thanks,” she said. When she made eye contact again, she looked at him questioningly. “What?”

He realized he’d been staring at her. “Oh, nothing. You’re just cute.”

He smiled smugly at her, and ( _guess what?_ ) she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, sure. Drop your sarcastic tone and let’s get moving. I’m hungry.” 

_She actually thinks I’m joking,_ he thought, and shook his head, smiling. They gathered their stuff and walked to the gas station where Leo would pick them up. 

When Leo finally got there, they approached the car, where Leo was driving and Jason was sitting in the back next to Piper, who was sitting in the middle, and everyone shot Percy a surprised look from inside when they saw Annabeth. He opened the door and started getting in the front seat, Annabeth sitting in the back next to Piper. They greeted them, smiling as they entered the car.

“Hey guys,” Percy said. “Mind if Annabeth comes with?”

“Do we have a choice? She’s already in the car!” Leo said jokingly.

Annabeth laughed, and Percy could only think of how adorable it was. His stomach flipped, now a familiar feeling because of how often it happened whenever Annabeth was around, and he bit back a smile.

“I had nothing else to do and I’m hungry, so I decided to take the burden of enduring you dorks for a few hours,” she said, still smiling.

When they got to Buffalo Burgers, they all slid in a booth and started talking. Jason started telling Piper how much she was missing by not eating meat (she was a vegetarian), while she lectured him about the perks of a meat-free diet and the terrible meat industry. Leo started telling Percy a joke about penguins and a heat machine and soon they were both hugging their own stomach as they laughed. 

Later on, when their food arrived, Piper turned to Annabeth. 

"So, what about that architecture course you're taking?" Piper asked. "Is it going well?"

Annabeth's face lit up and she almost jumped from the seat. "Oh my god, you have _no idea_. It's the best thing in the entire world! Today the lecture was solely about the Greek columns and it's amazing how revolutionary they are. Did you know that the middle section is wider than the top and bottom so that when they're next to each other, they'll seem more straight? They already used optical illusions in their architecture even though that was like more than _two thousand years ago_ -"

Leo glanced at Percy, rolling his eyes. "The architecture nerd has been summoned."

Percy looked at Annabeth again, who hadn't even heard Leo's little remark and was still blabbering on and on. And wow, she really was cute when she got all excited like this, her hands gesturing all around her and the little smile she had on her face and the way she leaned over like she could barely contain her own enthusiasm enough to stay on the chair. He noticed the curve of her neck, exposed as all her beautiful hair was carefully tied into a ponytail, and the way it cascaded down her back, all wavy and soft and he just really wanted to touch it and-

Suddenly, she was looking at him.

"Right, Percy?" 

The expectant look on her face indicated that she was now talking about something he should know about. He blinked, feeling heat creep up his face. "I, uh...what?"

All of them stared at him. Piper looked at him suspiciously, Jason had a knowing smile on his face and Leo just stared like he thought Percy was crazy.

When no one said anything, Jason raised his eyebrows (the knowing look never leaving his face) and said: "You were just about to tell us about your Chem project that Annabeth was talking about."

Percy cleared his throat. "Oh. Uh, yeah. It's going well."

That, apparently, was not the right thing to say. They all fell completely silent. Annabeth stared at him but Percy couldn't read her expression. 

Suddenly, she got up. “I’ll be right back. Going to the bathroom.” 

She walked away and, as soon as she went out of sight, they all turned to Percy, who was staring determinedly at the paper menu in front of him.

“Percy, what's going on?” Piper asked, her tone not accusatory. “First you show up like you're best buddies. Now you're acting... weird.”

Percy looked up at her. “We were actually doing the Chemistry project and… I might have let slip that we were going to hang out later, and she got kind of sad, so I invited her over. I know you guys are friends with her, so I didn’t think you’d mind.” He sighed. Only then he noticed they were all grinning a little and glancing at each other knowingly. “What?” 

“Oh, nothing.” Leo said, still grinning. Percy just sighed, defeated.

"You guys, I know what you're thinking, but it can't happen. You all know nothing can ever happen between the two of us."

Piper seemed like she was about to say something, but her eyes spotted something behind him and she stopped, staring with her mouth open. Her expression became worried and when Percy turned around, his heart dropped. 

Annabeth was standing behind him, staring directly into his eyes, and there were tears in her own. For about two seconds, she looked completely heartbroken. She looked so hurt Percy felt like hugging her right there, telling her that it wasn't what she thought, tell her he was sorry.

Then her face turned cold as ice.

"I... I think I'm going to go." 

Her voice was stern, but she sounded like she was barely holding back a sob, and that hurt more than if she had actually cried. She scowled and turned around, walking straight to the door, and Percy sat there like he was paralyzed. His entire being screamed for him to move, to go after her, to do _something_ , but it was like that cold look had frozen him. 

He looked around and saw his friends looking like they were searching for something to say, but none of them seemed to know what.

Percy got up from the chair. "I'll see you tomorrow, guys."

And with that, he walked out the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! hope you liked this one, it was longer than the other ones. please comment what you think :)


	4. it wasn't all in my head

For the following week, everything went back to the way it was in the beginning. Whenever Percy saw Annabeth, she walked right past him like he didn't even exist. Their friends avoided even mentioning her whenever Percy was around, like she was some disease that might infect him if he heard her name out loud. She pretended not to notice him in class during the periods they had together. She never looked him in the eyes, not even the times he had walked up to her and touched her arm, trying to find a way of saying he was sorry. 

And he was so, so _sorry_.

The thing was, during the first day of school, he hadn't known Annabeth yet. He didn't know how intelligent she was, how nice the lemony scent of her hair was, how amazing she was at drawing and designing buildings. He didn't know how funny she could be when she was joking around, how adorable she looked when she stuck out her tongue whenever she was really concentrated, or that she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear every time she got nervous. He didn't know that she blushed every time someone complimented her, or that she looked especially beautiful when she let her hair down, or that her eyes almost looked like a sky full of clouds when the sunlight hit them just right. 

He didn't know, back then, what it was like to miss Annabeth Chase. And now he did, and it hurt more than anything else he had ever felt.

The week went on, and the day they were supposed to do the Chemistry presentation came closer and closer. Percy wondered how in the world he had screwed this up - how he had managed to hurt someone as wonderful as Annabeth, with her perfect smile and beautiful curls and incredible brains and amazing laugh. Someone who had already been hurt so much and felt such a need to prove herself and hide all of her flaws for fear of being rejected.

He asked himself how he had ever been able to dislike her. 

When he got home from school, one day before their project presentation, he went straight to his room and dropped onto his bed, never wanting to get up again. He stayed there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, until he heard a knock on his door. 

"Percy?" He heard his mother's gentle voice from the other side. "Can I come in?"

When he didn't say anything, Sally opened the door slowly, peeking inside the room. She walked to his bed and sat on the edge, settling one hand on his ankle and rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. "Hey."

After a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath. "Percy, please talk to me."

He sat up, looking miserable, but nodded.

"This is about Annabeth, isn't it?" She said it more like a fact than a question. "You like her."

His nod was almost imperceptible. She reached out and cupped his face, looking at him lovingly. Percy sighed.

"I screwed up, mom," he said with a small voice, almost cracking. "I really screwed up."

Sally pulled him closer to her own body, placing his head on her shoulder, and he settled into her. "Did you hurt her?" 

She felt his nod against her shoulder. "I don't know what to do. Our project is due tomorrow and she won't even look at me. I..." his voice faltered. "I think that when I said nothing could happen with the two of us, she thought I meant it was because I don't like her."

"Do you?" His mother's voice was warm, not even questioning when or where it had happened. He was thankful she didn't ask for details.

"She's amazing, mom," he said weakly. "She's the most amazing girl I've ever met."

Sally ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him away to look into his eyes. 

"Percy, if she's so special to you, you need to go after her."

It was like everything holding him back melted away. He sat up straighter, swallowing and rubbing his eyes, and then looked at his mom. 

"How do I do this?" Percy asked. "How do I fix all of this?"

She smiled gently at him. "You need to apologize, sweetheart. Make her see how you really feel about her."

He nodded and stared at the floor, thinking, and she got up from the bed, giving him a kiss on top of his hair.

"Percy, if you really care so much about her, she won't be able to ignore it. Love has a way of showing, even if one doesn't want to see it."

She walked out of his room and left him alone, lost in his thoughts, when something hit him. He ran after his mother walking down the hall. 

"Mom! Can I borrow your phone really quick?"

She gave him the phone with a knowing but loving smile, and he instantly started typing, searching for a contact as Sally went down the hall to her own room. He spotted the name 'Piper' and immediately hit the call button.

"Hello?" Percy heard her voice coming from the other side of the line.

"Pipes, it's me. Percy." His voice came out a little hasty.

"Oh, hi Percy," she said. "Is everything okay?"

Percy scrambled back into his room, looking for his shoes. "Yeah, everything's fine. Do you happen to know where Annabeth might be right now?"

"Yeah, sure. She should be at the debate team meeting at school." Her words were music to his ears as he pulled on a sock.

"Do you know when it ends?"

There was a pause, as if Piper were checking the time. "She should be catching her usual bus home in about ten minutes."

Percy sighed gratefully. "Okay! Thank you, Pipes! I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

"Percy-" Her voice was cut off as he hung up.

He ran out of his room, leaving his mom's phone on the kitchen counter on the way out of the house. He mentally thanked every god there was for going to a school so close to his house as he ran, checking his watch to see how much time he had left. Three minutes. 

He ran faster and faster and when he finally spotted the bus stop in front of the brown building, there was no one there. 

Percy looked around nervously. Was his watch delayed? Had she gone somewhere else? Had the bus been early? 

His heart stopped when he saw a slim figure stepping out the doors of the school, blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail and hands full of books. She was looking at the floor as she went down the stairs to the sidewalk, apparently lost in thought. 

"Annabeth!"

Annabeth's head snapped up, frowning instantly as she saw him run to her. She seemed to be considering running away, but gave up - instead, she rooted her feet to the ground at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him to meet her. 

"Percy."

 _At least she didn't completely ignore me this time_ , he thought as he reached her. 

"Annabeth, hi. I really needed to talk to you."

She scowled. "And what exactly did you want to say?"

He didn't wince at her dry tone. Instead, he took another step closer to her, feeling a bit of relief when she didn't move away. He took a deep breath.

"I, uh... I think we should talk about the project."

Annabeth's face filled with anger and she huffed. "The project? You ran all the way here to talk about the _project?_ _"_

Her face was getting red and she looked around, like she was searching for something she could kick, before shifting her eyes back to Percy, who raised his hands defensively.

"No! Annabeth, that's - that's not the only reason I'm here! I wanted to talk about us, about the way I feel -"

"I don't need you to rub it on my face, Percy, I get it! I'm not stupid!" Her voice was getting louder by the second. "I know how to recognize rejection, you just didn't need to be so mean about it -"

"Annabeth, that's not how I feel at all!" Percy tried to push down his anger, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't listen to him. "I thought that you were just putting up with me for the project! I thought you hated me!"

"After all the time we spent together, it never occurred to you that I might have changed my mind?" Annabeth almost yelled, dropping her things on the floor in the midst of her anger. "That I might actually _like you?_ "

Percy scowled, and before he could think, he was already yelling.

"Well, maybe I like you back!"

It was too late when Percy realized what he had said. Annabeth raised her eyebrows, mouth open like he'd just told her the most absurd thing in the world, and stared at him for a few seconds.

Then she ran and threw herself onto him.

Percy felt like everything was in slow motion as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with so much force it hurt. He crushed her against him, pouring everything he had been holding back for weeks into her. The world ceased to exist around them as he felt her sweet lips on his, her soft hand on his cheek and the warmth of her body against his own. It felt so right, he didn't know how he'd lived all his life without it - without _her_.

He raised one hand to her neck, deepening the kiss as his fingers dug into the soft hair that was still pulled up in a ponytail. She pulled away and reached behind her, pulling the elastic band out and letting her curls tumble down her shoulders and back. Percy immediately ran his fingers through the silky hair he had so many times wanted to touch and she melted into him as he caressed her face and kissed her again and again, never wanting this moment to end.

"Percy," she breathed. "You are such an idiot."

She was grinning at him, holding him tight against her, and he knew she had never looked this beautiful. He looked at her, admiring her eyes and smile and every freckle on her cheeks, and he couldn't breathe. He traced his thumb over her cheekbone and she leaned into his touch.

"Yeah," he smiled back at her. "I know."

Annabeth kissed him again, and he was pretty sure he would never get tired of it.


	5. finally changed

They sat together at the park, on the bench under the lemon tree where they'd worked on the project weeks before. Annabeth's legs were on top of Percy's thighs and he rubbed her knee gently as they talked. He had been thinking of leaning over and kissing her when she'd smiled at him excitedly.

"I have a great idea."

"What were you thinking?" Percy asked, intrigued. (Even though his thoughts of kissing her hadn't completely gone away.) 

She smiled mischievously. "We should pretend we still hate each other. Nobody knows we're together, and everyone thinks we aren't talking, so we can pretend to ignore each other like before and surprise them after we're done presenting the project tomorrow. It would be hilarious."

Percy returned the smile. 

"That _is_ a great idea," he started. "But does that mean that I can't tell anyone that I kissed the smartest girl in school?"

She laughed. "I'm pretty sure _I'm_ the one who kissed _you_ , Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, good point. It _would_ be even harder not to brag about that."

Annabeth hit his shoulder lightly, shaking her head at him with a smile. "Shut up. Do you want to do this or not?"

"Sure, Wise Girl," he said. "There's just one problem..." She looked at him questioningly. "I don't know how I'm going to resist you all morning." 

He leaned over and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty irresistible, aren't I?" Annabeth teased, lifting his head to look at her.

Percy leaned in closer and hummed. "You have no idea..."

She smiled against his lips and dug her fingers into his hair and _ugh_ it really was incredible that he could kiss her like this.

"I think you can manage, though," she said pulling away, still holding him close. He chuckled, thinking of their friends' reactions to the news the next day. 

They sat there together until the sun started setting. The low light made Annabeth look so pretty, Percy wondered how he ever managed to get someone like her to like him back. 

"What are you looking at, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth smirked at him. 

"Oh, it's this beautiful girl." Percy saw her blush. "She's cute and intelligent and clever, but I don't know how to show her that I like her."

She giggled and shoved his shoulder, the playful look never leaving her face. "Well, why don't you just tell her?"

"I don't know if she likes me back," he answered lightly.

He raised his hand as if he were going to cup her face and he saw her expression soften, until, in the last second, he stuck his fingers under her armpit and started tickling her mercilessly. Annabeth laughed loudly and tried to escape, scrambling from the bench and running away, and at that moment, as he ran after her and fell on the grass and felt her warmth as she hugged him, he couldn't help but think she was the best thing that ever happened to him. He lay next to her as she looked up with her hair sprawled all around her face, grinning widely.

"I really like you, Annabeth Chase," Percy said, feeling his heart hammering against his chest. Her grin widened impossibly more.

"I really like you too, you dork."

They lay there, talking and laughing and kissing for longer than they should have, but Percy didn't care. Annabeth liked him. He could barely believe it. 

***

The next day, Percy went to school with all the materials they needed to show their project to the class. It was a good thing he had practice early in the morning, because he was still jittery even after tons of laps in the pool. He didn't want to think about how bad it would be if he hadn't spent a little bit of his pent up energy beforehand. 

He spotted Annabeth in the locker room and ignored her, as they had agreed. It was definitely not easy, considering she had chosen some jean overalls that fit her very nicely and made her look even more architect-like than normal. He could see a very faint red mark that wasn't noticeable to anyone who wasn't looking - anyone who didn't know that it was actually a mark he had left on her skin the day before.

_"You will not give me a hickey, Percy Jackson," she said, pulling him away from the soft skin where her shoulder met her neck. "I still have to maintain my reputation."_

He felt something stir inside him as the memory replayed in his brain. The collar on Annabeth's shirt was low - low enough to expose that little bit of skin that she usually wouldn't show. Percy's breath hitched as she looked up, eyes locking with his. She looked down at the mark and back at him, quirking up her mouth in a smirk.

 _Tease_ , he thought, looking away and shaking his head as he felt himself heat up.

He grabbed his things and headed towards Mr. Blofis' class, finding Grover on the way. 

"Hey Grover!" Percy greeted. "Heading to American Literature?"

Grover turned to him with a slightly surprised expression as he saw his friend approach him. "Hey Percy! Uh, yeah, that's where I'm going now."

"Cool, we can go together!" Percy said, smiling at his friend as they walked to the classroom.

Grover looked at him questioningly. "Well, someone's cheerful today," he noted. "What, are you over the Annabeth thing?"

Percy glanced at the floor nervously for a second before recomposing himself. "I just thought I should lighten up a little. I've been a bad friend to you lately."

Grover's skeptical look didn't completely go away, but he didn't push. "Well, if you say so.."

"Tell me about that project you were telling me about yesterday," Percy said, wanting to distract him. "You never told me how many animals have been saved."

Apparently that was the right thing to say, because Grover immediately started telling Percy all about it, and by the time they arrived to Mr. Blofis' class, he had completely forgotten about his suspicion.

The rest of the morning felt like slow motion, and Percy spent all of his classes doodling and trying to think of anything that wasn't Annabeth. (He failed.)

When it was finally time for Chemistry, he went to his locker to retrieve the materials, feeling like his insides were going to explode. He headed alone towards the classroom and when he got there, the only people there were a kid he didn't know, Mrs. Hayden, and Annabeth, who was sitting at the first desk, as always. 

They exchanged a look for a second and he held back a smile before walking to his usual desk on the back, placing the bag with the materials on the floor as he sat on the chair. The other students arrived gradually and five minutes later, Mrs. Hayden looked up from the notebook on her desk and got up. 

"Hello, everyone," she greeted. "Today, as you all know, we will start our presentations. You will go in alphabetical order, starting with Miss Abbot and Miss Finch. You may come to the front."

The two girls walked to the table that was placed at the front of the room and started talking about their project. Percy knew he and Annabeth were going to be called soon, her last name being Chase, so his stomach flipped again, both because he was nervous about the presentation and because he was going to have to pretend not to like Annabeth for the whole thing. 

Two presentations later, Mrs. Hayden got up again. "Yes, thank you, boys. You may sit down now. Next, please come to the front Miss Chase and Mr. Jackson."

The room instantly filled with tension and the other students watched Percy and Annabeth go to the table, as if they were suddenly going to start fighting kung fu or something. Percy concentrated as much as possible to keep from smirking and set the materials on the table. He began assembling the device they used at the park while Annabeth started talking, grateful that he didn't have to, or he might have ruined their plan. 

"My name is Annabeth Chase and this is Percy Jackson. Our project is centered around the concept of electrolysis and electric conductivity."

She began explaining what they had done and their conclusions as Percy demonstrated the reactions, indicating the changes as they happened. They maintained their cool manner during the whole time they talked, which was impressive considering Percy felt like his heart could be heard from China and Annabeth was constantly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

But no one else knew that about her, of course. That thought sent his heart into another fit.

They managed to finish it without even looking directly at each other (something that Percy was thankful for, because he probably wouldn't be able to hold back a grin if he saw her beautiful face) and went back to their seats, thanking the teacher for her time and disassembling their device. 

Percy smiled, knowing Annabeth was trying to resist looking at him and being seen by the whole class as their teacher called the next pair to the front. 

The rest of the class showed what they had worked on during the month, and when the period was close to its end, she started calling the pairs to her desk to let the students know their grades on the project so that they could leave the classroom. They walked up to her and Percy fought a smile, feeling his hand tingling when it gently grazed Annabeth's as he stood next to her in front of their teacher's desk.

"I'd like to say that I'm very proud of you two," Mrs. Hayden declared when they got closer. "Even if you still don't like each other, you were able to work maturely together and keep a peaceful relationship in class. You have earned full marks."

He felt Annabeth's hug before he could even process what he'd just heard. She had squealed and jumped onto him, and he smiled as he squeezed her tightly. When she pulled back she grinned at him and kissed him on the cheek, and if the rest of the students weren't shocked before, they most certainly were now - but no one looked as surprised as Mrs. Hayden, who stared at them with a mix of surprise and amusement on her face. He could feel their looks as he and Annabeth interlocked their fingers and walked out with their bags and huge smiles on their faces.

"Thanks, Mrs. Hayden! See you next week!" Percy called, barely containing his laughter.

As soon as they walked out the door, they ran to the end of the hall, giggling like little kids. Annabeth pulled him in for a sweet kiss.

"That was priceless!" Annabeth smiled, still fighting to keep from laughing. "I can't believe we managed to avoid each other's eyes during the presentation!"

Percy kissed her again because he could. "Tell me about it. It's hard to resist making fun of your blabbering when you're right next to me."

She poked him. "Hey! It's not my fault that I'm the only one who actually remembers the results of our experiment!"

"Hmm..." Percy hummed, pulling her close to him in the empty hallway. "How could I concentrate on a report when the person writing it was so much more interesting?"

They started heading towards the cafeteria, chatting and swinging their hands back and forth between them, and they were too distracted to register that they were pulled inside immediately as they entered the room. Suddenly, Percy was being dragged by Annabeth, who's arm was in Piper's firm grip as they were led to a table in the corner. She didn't seem to notice Percy and Annabeth's hands were linked.

"You guys, you _have_ to see this."

He had never seen her this determined, and that was saying something. Piper was one of the most stubborn people he knew. (Maybe aside from Annabeth. And himself.)

She led them to the back of the room, where Jason, Leo, Frank and Hazel were already looking out a window, ducking so that only the top of their heads would be visible from the park outside. Percy spotted two figures at the playground, sitting very close to each other - Will and Nico, going through the black notebook Nico always took everywhere. He watched as Will leaned closer, touching Nico's arm, and he could see the boy's blush even many feet from them. Nico looked up and Will leaned in even more, getting closer and closer, and everyone gasped. Nico's eyes widened and his face got even redder as Will kissed him, and the boy hesitated before giving into the blond boy's touch. They watched as Nico slowly closed his eyes and lifted one hand to cup Will's cheek gently. 

"Oh my god! It's happening!" Hazel squealed quietly, struggling to keep her voice down.

"This is amazing!" Piper whispered frantically, jumping up and down. "I can't believe we got to see their first kiss!"

Percy glanced at Annabeth and they shared a knowing look. He knew their news wouldn't be as important now, but he didn't care, and he knew she didn't either. He knew his friends' happiness was a lot more important right now, and they wouldn't ruin their moment. They let go of each other's hands and smiled as the two boys broke apart and stared at each other for a few seconds.

Suddenly, Will turned, looking directly at them. He smiled nonchalantly and waved, clearly aware of the group's spying. They all looked around frantically, trying to hide, but it was no use. They had been caught. 

Nico followed Will's gaze and his expression became horrified as he spotted his friends looking at him with panicked expressions. Jason shot him a sheepish look but Hazel just grinned cheekily, clearly not at all ashamed for being caught, and waved at her brother. Nico's face turned red again and he buried it in his hands as Will laughed and hugged his shoulders, kissing his hair. Before Nico looked back up, Percy shot Will a thumbs up, grinning, and Will returned it with a playful eyeroll. He nudged Nico gently and said something before the both of them got up and walked somewhere else, probably to have some time alone.

"That was so cute, I think I'm going to explode!" Hazel could barely contain her excitement.

Piper nodded, grinning crazily. "I know! They are the cutest thing in the entire world! And did you see Nico's face when he realized what was happening?"

Jason smiled, taking her hand. "Well, they took long enough!"

Leo shot him a look. "Right, because you were _totally_ forward with Piper."

They all chuckled at Jason's annoyance and were almost changing the subject before Piper's face changed, looking at Percy and Annabeth skeptically. 

"Hey, what were you two doing coming over here together?" she asked. "I thought you weren't speaking."

An awkward silence followed and he glanced at Annabeth for a split second in which he understood what she was saying with her eyes. _Not now._

Percy looked back at Piper and shrugged, discreetly making sure he and Annabeth had enough space between them. "Oh, we were just coming from Mrs. Hayden's presentation. It went well."

Another long pause. This time, Jason was the one to break it. 

"Well, I'm glad. Maybe we can plan our weekend, then?"

The tension diluted as they slipped into an easy conversation. They enjoyed their lunch and were all about to leave for class when Annabeth suddenly got up, looking at her watch. 

"Oh, I have to go. I told Mr. Simmons I'd come in early to ask some questions about last class," she said, grabbing her bag. She turned to Percy. "I promise I'll talk to you later, okay?"

The group went silent again and Annabeth stared at him, avoiding their questioning looks. Percy smiled, trying to help her get a grip before she ended up acting even more girlfriend-like. 

"Yeah, that's okay. You have my telephone number."

She seemed to be frozen, mouth agape with her bag lazily hanging from her shoulder. Percy reached out and touched her arm lightly. "It's okay. Don't worry."

Something in her eyes seemed to change for half a second before she looked down at her arm where Percy's hand had just touched and then back up to his face. Suddenly, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a sweet, almost lingering kiss. She broke the kiss, winked and walked away, a cheeky smile on her lips.

"Bye, Percy!" Annabeth waved, not even looking back.

Their friends were in shock. Jason and Leo were staring at Annabeth like they'd just seen a ghost. Piper was pointing at Percy, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. Hazel and Frank just kept going back and forth between Percy and each other, as if trying to confirm if they had actually seen the same thing.

Percy quickly recovered from his surprise and smiled as he watched Annabeth walk out the door. He grinned at his friends' expressions, acting like nothing happened despite the obvious blush on his cheeks. 

"What are we waiting for?" he asked, the grin never leaving his face. "We're going to be late."

He walked away from his friends, knowing just how lucky he was for dating Annabeth Chase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! so this is the end of this fic. i kinda god unmotivated in the middle of it because i started this five years ago and my writing style changed so much, it was kinda hard to make this fic consistent. i know it's not great but i hope you enjoyed some of it at least lol
> 
> also, i'm working on something i actually identify with and like better. (it's a solangelo fic, so if you like them, stay tuned!) 
> 
> thanks for reading if you got all the way to this point, and please comment what you think about the final product :)


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